By Simon Harrison

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4 Dec 2012 19:30:00

Although the Dutch youngster has signed an extension to his current deal at Feyenoord, he had some top European clubs keen to secure his signature according to the player's agent

Feyenoord midfielder Tonny Vilhena, who recently signed a contract extension until 2016 at the Eredivisie club, could have been at one of the top teams in Europe according to his representative Mino Raiola.

Vilhena, 17, is highly regarded at the Dutch giants, featuring for their first team during the current campaign and also playing for his country at Under-17 and U19 level.

And Raiola, who also has Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on his books, was keen to talk up his client, though, insisted the midfielder was happy to remain at the club.

"Everyone says that the negotiations have lasted a long while," he told Algemeen Dagblad.

"I disagree. Tonny contract lasts until the summer of 2014. There was no rush for us and he didn't play for a while.

"Tonny always gave the impression that he wanted to stay at De Kuip. He can develop under a coach who has great confidence in him.

"And the terms were right for us now, so we agreed [to the extension]."

Despite agreeing a long-term deal, Raiola insisted that Feyenoord's intent with Vilhena was the driving force behind the new contract, rather than the monetary incentive.

He added: "It was certainly not for money. If it had been, he would have signed with a European club. Because there was interest from big clubs.

"We are particularly pleased with the detailed plans that the club has with him. Everyone is prepared to do everything to ensure that he can develop even faster.

"We spent the last few days speeding up negotiations, it was important that things would finally calm down around Tonny again.

"Everyone asked him if he would or wouldn't sign an extension. It was almost a soap, but now there is a happy ending."